previti



Filed Mano, 1954 Feb. 4, 1958 I A. E. PRQEVITI 7 2,822,128

' REGISTER INDICATOR 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. ALFRED E. PREVITI Bi WWW INVENTOR.

3 Sheets-Sheet 2 ALFRED E. PREVITI Feb: 4, 1958 A. E. PREVITI REGISTER INDICATOR Filed May 10. 1954 IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII) IIIIIIIIIIII wIIIIIItIIIIIIl (III/IA IIIIIIIIIA 1958 2 E. PREVITI 2,822,128

REGISTER INDICATOR Filed May 10, 1954 a Sheets-Sheet s 5* FIGJI.

IN V EN TOR.

ALFR E D E. PREVITI WWE REGISTER liblDlCATOR Alfred E. Previti, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Application May 10, 1954, Serial No. 428,483

10 Claims. (Cl. 23523) This invention relates to an indicating arrangement and more particularly to an indicating arrangement used in combination with conventional cash registers adapted to indicate the denomination of the last two bills deposited therein and the sequence in which said bills were received.

In commercial establishments utilizing cash registers, considerable difficulty is often encountered in giving change from bills of larger denomination when the customer asserts that the bill tendered was of greater value than recalled by the clerk. In order to obviate considerable embarrassment and loss in this respect, it is a common practise in such establishments for the clerk to deposit the bill received from the customer upon the shelf of the cash register and to tender the change to the customer prior to the depositing the bill within the appropriate bin of the register drawer. This procedure has not been found to be entirely satisfactory, particularly in busy stores or similar places of business Where-in customers follow each other at frequent intervals. A particularly significant difficulty is encountered when the customer fails to make a complaint concerning the inadequacy of the change until after the neXt succeeding customer has been served at the register. Under these circumstances the preceding customers bill has already been deposited within the appropriate compartment of the cash register drawer and the clerk must rely upon his memory in order to determine the validity of the complaint. In the ensuing discussion the customer is invariably deemed to be right and the additional change is given, often resulting in loss to the store whether from honest mistake of the customer or fraudulent intent. It is therefore an object of this invention to provide indicating means which is adapted to be associated with a conventional cash register which will give a readily ascertainable indication of the denomination of the last bill deposited within the cash register drawer and which will in addition thereto indicate the denomination of the bill which was deposited immediately preceding it.

It is an object of this invention to provide a simple, efficient and economical arrangement which is adapted to be associated with cash registers of conventional design whereby an indication is given of the denomination of the last bill received and deposited therein as well as the denomination of the bill immediately preceding it.

Other and further objects of this invention will become apparent from the description thereof contained in the annexed specifications, or will otherwise become obvious. It Will be understood that the invention here disclosed may be employed for other purposes to which the structure and arrangement are adapted.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a conventional cash register showing an indicator in accordance with the present invention mounted in the drawer thereof,

Figure 2 is a fragmentary bottom view of an indicator slide element and repeat release slide,

Figure 3 is a fragmentary bottom view of the repeat nite States atent O mechanism showing the operation of a repeat release slide pawl,

Figure 4 is a plan view of a cash register drawer,

Figure 5 is a fragmentary plan view of the repeat release slide arrangement with the main indicator slides removed therefrom illustrating the sequence of positions of the release slides,

Figure 6 is a top plan view of the indicator slide mechanism,

Figure 7 is a cross-section of a portion of a cash register drawer taken along line 77 of Figure 4, and

Figures 8 to 12 are a series of diagrams of the sequence of positions of the indicator slides as a series of bills are deposited therein.

Figure 1 illustrates a cash register, of substantially conventional design designated generally by the numeral 20, in the bottom of which a cash drawer 21 is slidably mounted. The cash drawer is divided into a plurality of compartments 22, each of which is adapted to receive a bill or coin of a particular denomination. For illustrative purposes the bill or currency receiving compartments are also marked with the particular denomination of bill to be deposited therein. Each of the currency receiving compartments 22 is provided with a hold-down finger 23 which may advantageously be a V-shaped wire resiliently biased toward the bottom wall 24 of the drawer. The base portion of each of the fingers is pivotally secured within each of the compartments by means of a transverse bar 25 which is pivotally mounted in the walls of each compartment. When it is desired to deposit a bill within a particular compartment, the hold-down finger of the compartment corresponding to the denomination of the bill is raised permitting the bill to be placed therein and the finger 23 is then lowered, clamping the entire pile. The indicator comprising the present invention is operated by the foregoing actuation of the hold-down fingers in the compartments as bills are deposited therein.

The indicator, a preferred embodiment of which is illustrated herein, is advantageously positioned at the back of the cash register drawer and to the rear of the line of currency receiving compartments. The face of the indicator is comprised of a panel 26 provided with a number of openings 27 each of said openings being in alignment with a currency receiving compartment and may be identified by a similar currency designation. The purpose of the indicator is to identify the sequence of deposits of bills within the various compartments of the cash register drawer. Thus, the indicator is intended to show the denomination of the last bill deposited within the cash register drawer and additionally to indicate the denomination of the bill deposited therein immediately preceding it. Thus, the clerk or cash register operator is enabled to ascertain at a glance the denomination of the last bill which be deposited within the drawer, as well as the bill preceding it, thereby enabling him to ascertain the correct amount of change to be given or to rectify any error which may have been made. This indication is given in the following manner: An indicating slide to be more particularly described hereafter is positioned behind each of openings 27. Each indicator slide is provided with three indicia which are adapted to be brought into registration with said openings in the panel, only one of said indicia being visible through an opening at any one time.

For purposes of description, the indicia borne by each of the indicator slides consists of the letters A, B and C although it will be understood that other forms of indicia to indicate the position of the indicator slide may be used, such as for example, different colors or even words. Thus, in the embodiment of the invention illustrated herein, each indicator slide has marked thereon the letters A, B and C. The slide is so arranged that when the letter A registers with the opening in the panel, it indicates to the clerk that the last bill to have been deposited within the cash register drawer was in that compartment with which the particular opening is associated. In a similar manner, the letter B appearing in an opening is intended to indicate to the clerk that the bill preceding the last one was deposited within the compartrnent with which that particular opening is associated. The letter C, on the other hand, is intended to indicate that no bill was deposited within the compartment with which it is associated during the last two transactions. Thus, for example, reading the indications as they appear in the cash register drawer shown in Figures 1 and 4. The following information is conveyed since the letter A appears in the panel opening corresponding to the $5.00 compartment, the last bill to have been deposited in the cash register drawer was a $5.00 bill. The letter B appearing in the opening associated with the $20.00 compartment indicates the bill preceding the last one to have been of a $20.00 denomination. The letter C appearing in the openings corresponding to the $1.00 and $10.00 compartments respectively indicates that no bill was deposited within each of said compartments in the two preceding transactions.

The mechanism whereby these indications are achieved and changed in accordance with the deposits of currency made within the cash register drawer is particularly illustrated in Figures 6 and 7. Figure 6 illustrates the indicator mechanism positioned behind panel 26 the line of indicia C A C B corresponding to the line of indicia appearing through the respective openings of the front panel in Figure 4. Mounted within the cash register drawer is a partition 28 which forms the front member of a frame. Said frame is provided with end bars 29 which are formed with a series of slots 30 within which latch bars 31 and 32 are received for transverse movement. The ends of the latch bars 31 and 32 are therefore slidably disposed in supporting slots 30 formed in the end bars 29 of the frame. Latch bars 31 and 32 are normally biased toward a left hand position by means of springs 34 and 35 respectively which are anchored to fixed points on the frame. The additional repeat release bar 33 is similarly slidably mounted within slots 30 formed in side bars 29 and is fixedly connected to latch bar 32 by means of a connecting member 70 so that said repeat release bar 33 and latch bar 32 are connected for simultaneous transverse sliding movement. Thus, latch bar 32 and repeat release bar 33 are normally held in a left hand position by means of spring 35.

Partition 28 forming the front wall of the indicator frame is provided with a series of slots 36 within which indicator slides 45, 46, 47 and 48 are received for longitudinal reciprocating movement. The indicator slides are all similar in construction and each of said slides is provided with a body portion from which an operating stem 38 extends. It will be noted that a step is formed at the juncture of the 'body portion with the stem which acts as a limit stop upon abutment with partition 28 thereby limiting the outward movement of the slide. Each. of the indicator slides may advantageously be formed of a suitably cut strip of sheet metal and is provided with a group of three indicia A, B and C arranged longitudinally upon the upper surface thereof. A cam tooth 39 is formed at the upper end of the indicator slide; said tooth having a diagonally extending cam surface 41 and a transversely extending lower wall surface 42. A lug 43 extends outwardly from the body of the indicator slide and one end of a tension spring 44 is connected thereto. The other end of said tension spring is connected to a fixed point on the frame and thus biases the slide toward partition 28 to the limit of its outward movement. It will thus be seen that each of indicator slides is capable of longitudinal reciprocating movement between the extreme positions in which slides 45 and 46 are illustrated in Figure 6.

Positioned below each of the indicator slides is a repeat release slide 37. The release slides 37 are similar in construction and each of said slides comprises a body portion 49 and an operating stem portion 50 extending therefrom. A step is formed at the juncture of the body portion with the stem and acts as a limit stop upon abutment with partition 28 thereby limiting the outward movement of the slide. The indicator slides may advantageously be formed of a suitably cut strip of sheet metal, similar to the indicator slides. As may be more clearly seen from Figures 2, 3 and 7, the stems of the repeat release slides are shorter than the stems of the indicator slides. A lug 51 extends outwardly from the body of each repeat release slide to which one end of a tension spring 52 is connected; the other end of said tension springs being connected to a fixed point at the front wall of the frame in a manner similar to the repeat release slides. Mounted on the under surface of each repeat release slide is a pawl 53 having a cam tooth portion similar to that formed on the indicator slide and extending beyond the body thereof. Said pawl is mounted for pivotal movement on the body of the repeat release slide by means of pivot pin 54. The pawl is biased by means of spring 55 to a position as indicated in Figure 2. in which the cam tooth portion thereof extends beyond the body of the slide. A stop pin 56 against which pawl 53 is normally maintained by means of the spring also forms an abutment stop to hold the pawl against further downward pivotal movement. The purpose of this arrangement will more clearly appear hereafter.

The longitudinal reciprocating action of the indicating slides is effected by means of the operation of the holddown fingers 23. This arrangement being more particularly illustrated in Figures 4 and 7. As may be seen from said figures, each of the hold-down fingers may advantageously be formed of a V-shaped wire which is secured to a transverse bar 25. Each of said bars 25 is pivotally mounted between the side walls of its compartment. The hold-down fingers are all similarly constructed and each is spring biased toward the bottom wall 24 of the register drawer by means of tension spring 57 and thus enables the finger to clamp the hills which may be located within the compartment. It will also be noted that an extension is formed on the hold-down finger which cooperates with a detent arrangement adjacent to the bottom wall of the register. The detent is comprised of a plate 59 pivotally mounted adjacent to the side wall of the compartment by means of pivot pin 60. The plate is spring biased outwardly by means of a leaf spring 61 secured to post 62 extending from the bottom wall of the register. Spring 61 causes the plate to bear against stop pin 63. The upper edge of plate 59 is provided with a V-shaped notch. It will be noted that when the hold-down finger is pivoted from the position indicated by the solid lines in Figure 7 to the position indicated by the broken lines, extension 58 reaches a point at which it rides on the upper edge surface of plate 5'9, slightly depressing the plate against the biasing action of the spring until the end of extension 57 enters the notch and thus retains the hold-down finger in the raised position indicated by the broken lines while a bill is being deposited within the compartment. The hold-down finger is then manually lowered and the bills are thus clamped. Extending substantially vertically from transverse bar 25 is a finger 64 provided with a cam surface 65 which is adapted to abut with and bear against the end edge of operating stem 38 of the indicator slide. It will thus again be noted that when the hold-down finger is raised, thereby simultaneously rotating transverse bar 25, finger 64 bears against the end edge of the stem of the indicator slide and causes it to move inwardly.

The cam finger 64 bears against the end edge of the stem 38 of the indicator slide and moves it inwardly until the end edge of the stem 50 of the repeat release slide is reached, at which point the cam finger additionally engages the stem of the repeat release slide and then moves both slides inwardly to the limit of their movement.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that whenever a bill is deposited within a compartment of the cash register drawer, the raising of the hold-down finger will initially cause both slides associated with that compartment to be moved inwardly to the limit of their movement. This inward movement is accomplished by means of the cam finger portion of the hold-down finger arrangement. Referring to Figure 6 it will be seen that latch bars 31 and 32 as well as repeat release bar 33 is provided with a series of aligned upwardly extending lugs 66. The inward movement of an indicator slide 45 brings the cam tooth portion 39 thereof in abutment with a lug 66 thereby causing latch bar 32 to be moved to the right until the cam tooth has passed the lug and whereupon said latch bar 32 springs back into its normal position as the slide continues to be moved inwardly. The cam tooth 39 then bears against a similar projecting lug 66 on latch bar 31 and said latch bar is similarly moved to the right until the tooth passes the lug and thereupon the latch bar 31 springs back into position under said tooth. Thus, the slide is moved from position in which the letter C appears through its associated opening 27 in the front panel until the letter A appears therethrough. When moved as above stated indicator slide 45 would for example assume a position similar to that in which slide 46 is illustrated in Figure 6 and thus indicate a deposit of currency therein. It will be noted that if the hold-down finger in that particular compartment is then lowered, the slide will nevertheless be maintained locked by the abutment of the lower transverse edge surface 42 of its cam tooth 39 with a projecting lug 66 on latch bar 31. Thus, the position of the indicator would be changed to show a letter A indicating a deposit of currency within the particular compartment associated therewith. I

Reviewing the movement of the indicator slide 45, as an example it will be seen that cam tooth 39 thereof bears against a lug 66 on repeat release slide 32 as it is moved inwardly thereby causing said slide 32 to be moved to the right as the cam tooth passes the lug. The movement of the repeat release slide 32 in the right hand direction causes it to release any other indicator slide which may be held thereon in the B position. Thus, the inward movement of indicator slide 45 would release or trip indicator slide 48 from its locked position on release bar 32 and permit it to return to its initial or C position under the biasing action of spring 44 associated therewith. Thus, the deposit of currency in the compartment associated with indicator slide 45 clears any other indicator slide from its B position by tripping the release bar 32 and causes it to return to its normal or C position. The further movement of indicator slide 45 past lug 66 on release bar 32 permits said release bar to be returned to its left hand position automatically by the action of spring 35. The still further inward movement of indicator slide 45 causes cam tooth 39 to pass lug 66 on the release bar 31 in turn and similarly causes said release bar 31 to be moved in a right hand direction and thus trips the bar thereby releasing indicator slide 46 by withdrawing the lug 66 against which cam tooth 39 of said indicator slide 46 is locked. Indicator slide 46 is thus drawn toward re lease slide 32 by means of its associated spring 44 until the cam tooth 39 on said indicator slide 46 is again locked as it bears against a lug 66 on release slide 32. The indicator slide 46 is thus released from its A position and locked in B position and indicating that the deposit made in the compartment associate-d therewith preceded the. last deposit made within the cash register drawer. From the foregoing it will be apparent that the movement of any indicator slide by means of the cam finger associated with the hold-down finger in the cash register drawer causes any indicator slide in the B position to be cleared and returned to its initial or C position and also causes any indicator slide which is in the A position to be moved to the B position.

The sequence of operation is illustrated diagrammatically in Figures 8 to 11 wherein the indicator slides are identified by the denomination of the biil receiving compartment with which it is associated and the arrow indicates the line of indicia appearing through the apertures in the indicator panel. Thus, Figure 8 illustrates the indicator slides in their normal or C position prior to the deposit of any currency whatsoever within the cash register drawer. Figure 9 illustrates the position of the indicator slides when a $1.00 bill is deposited within the cash register drawer. Under these circumstances the $1.00 indicator slide has been moved from its C position to its A position thereby indicating that a $1.00 bill was deposited Within the cash register drawer. Assuming that the next bill to be deposited is a $5.00 bill, the raising of the hold-down finger in the $5.00 compartment of the cash register drawer moves the $5.00 indicator slide in the direction of the arrow shown in Figure 10 which is thus locked in its A position. Simultaneously the movement of said $5.00 indicator slide will have released the $1.00 indicator slide from its A position and caused it to drop to its B position. The A position of the $5.00 indicator slide will therefore inform the clerk that the last bill to have been deposited within the cash register drawer was a $5.00 bill and the B position of the $1.00 indicator slide will inform the clerk that the bill preceding the last deposit was a $1.00 denomination. The deposit of a third bill. within the cash register drawer is indicated in Figure 11 and assumed to be a $10.00 bill. Under these circumstances the $10.00 indicator slide will be moved to the A position by the raising of the hold-down finger simultaneously releasing the $5.00 indicator slide from its A position and causing it to drop to B position. The movement of the $10.00 indicator slide will also release the $1.00 indicator slide from its B position and permit it to drop to its C position. Thus, the reading across the apertures of the indicator panel from left to right will be C B A C. The appearance of the letter A in the aperture associated with the $10.00 indicator slide informs the clerk that the last bill to have been deposited within the cash register drawer was a $10.00 bill and the letter B appearing in the aperture associated with the $5.00 indicator slide informs the clerk that the bill preceding it was a $5.00 bill. As a result of this arrangement it will be apparent that a continuous indication is provided for the clerk, informing him by means of the letter A appearing in the aperture that the last bill to have been deposited Within the cash register drawer was of the denomination associated with that aperture and the letter B indicating that the bill preceding said last bill was of the denomination associated with the aperture in which the letter B appears.

At this point it should be noted that if the same holddown finger is raised twice in succession, as when two bills of the same denomination are deposited within the cash register drawer one after the other, the respective positions of the indicator slides would not be altered. Thus, for example, in Figure 11 if a second $10.00 bill would now be deposited it would not cause any change in the position of indicator slides 46 or 47. This would therefore result in an erroneous indication since while the letter A would continue to show by reason of the position of indicator slide 47, the letter B would con tinue to show at indicator slide 46 which would thus erroneously denote that the preceding bill was only a $5.00 bill. Similarly in Figure 6 the successive deposits of $5.00 bills denoted by indicator slide 46 must be accompanied by clearing the indicator in the 13 position.

'7 Thus, said. Figure 6 indicator slide 48 must be cleared from the B. position in order to avoid such any erroneous indication. In order. to clear all indicators from the B position when the deposit of bills of the same denomination are made in succession, each of the indicator slides is provided with an associated repeat release slide 37 heretofore described, As heretofore indicated the stem 50 of each of repeat slides 37 is shorter than stem 38 of each of the indicator slides. By reason of the arrangement cam tooth 39 will have reached a lug 66 on release bar 32 as pawl 53 reaches a lug 66 on release bar 33. The cam tooth and pawl will thus act upon bars 32 and 33 at about the same time to release any indicator slide held in the B position by a lug 66 on latch bar 32.

The further inward movement of the slides by means of cam finger 64 will cause the cam tooth 3? on the indicator slide to latch on lug 66 of latch bar 31 as heretofore indicated thereby preventing said indicator slide from returning to its initial position as the holddcwn finger and its associated cam finger are lowered. However, the repeat release slide 37 will be returned to its initial position by the action of spring 52. In this connection it should be noted that as the repeat release moves back to its initial position pawl 53 must pass lug 66 on the release bar 33 without disturbing its position. This is accomplished by means of the pivoting action of the pawl 53. The action of the pawl is illustrated more particularly in Figure 3 wherein the pivoting movement of the pawl as it passes over a lug 66 in its return movement is shown by the broken lines. Thus, as the repeat release slide 37 moves back to its initial position, the pawl 53 merely trips over the projecting lug 66 and does not in any way affect or disturb the position of the release bar 33. The action of the repeat release slide is more particularly shown in Figure 5 which is merely intended to illustrate the sequence of positions of the repeat release slide during the raising and lowering of the hold-down finger in a compartment. Thus, the numeral 67 indicates a repeat release slide 37 in its normal position with relation to the release bar 33 while the hold-down finger is at rest against a stack of bills. Numeral 68 indicates the position of a repeat release slide 37 when the hold-down finger is in raised position as indicated by the broken lines in Figure 7. In reaching this position, the repeat release slide will have passed lug 66 and will have caused release bar 33 to move to the right. The numeral 69 indicates a repeat release slide which is returned to its initial position upon the lowering of the hold-down finger. In reaching this position, pawl 53 will have tripped over lug 66 without in any manner disturbing or moving the release bar 33.

Referring again to Figure 6 it will thus be seen that when the hold-down finger 2.3 is lowered after the deposit of a bill, as for example a $5.00 bill, indicator slide 46 will be locked in the position indicated in said figure whereas the repeat release slide 37 associated therewith will be returned to its initial or normal position by means of its associated spring when the hold-down finger is again lowered to clamp the bills within that particular compartment. If a bill of the same denomination is then deposited in the same compartment immediately thereafter, the subsequent raising of the hold-down finger actuates the repeat release slide only so that pawl 53 then actuates release bar 33 as it bears against lug 66. The simultaneous movement of release bar 33 and latch bar 32'will thus cause any indicator slide in the B position heldlatched by said latch bar 32 to be released and cleared therefrom so that the only significant indication appearing will be that given by indicator slide 46 which will thus indicate the letter A. Thus, the clerk is apprised by the A indication on slide 46 and the C indication on all other slides that the two preceding bills deposited in the register were of the same denomination, which in the example given would be two $5 .00 bills. It will of course 8 be understood that this indication is true for all operations of the. register after the second bill has been deposited therein.

I have here shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention. It will be apparent, however, that this invention is not limited to this embodiment, and that many changes, additions and modifications can be made in connection therewith without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as herein disclosed.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In combination, a cash register having a cash drawer, said drawer being divided into a plurality of currency receiving compartments and having a hold-down finger disposed in each of said compartments, an indicator associated with each of said hold-down fingers adapted to be moved from an initial to a first indicating position upon the lifting of said hold-down finger in order to indicate the deposit of currency within the compartment associated therewith, means for maintaining the indicator so moved latched in said indicating position upon the lowering of said hold-down finger, said means being operative upon the movement of such indicator to release any other indicator which may be latched in said first indicating position, means to latch said released other indicator in a second indicating position, said last named means being similarly operative upon the movement of such first mentioned indicator to release an additional indicator whichmay be latched in said second indicating position and to return said additional indicator to its initial positon.

2. In combination, a cash register having a cash drawer, said drawer being divided into a plurality of currency receiving compartments and having a hold-down finger disposed in each of said compartments, an indicator slide associated with each of said hold-down fingers adapted to be moved to an indicating position upon the raising of a hold-down finger to thereby indicate the deposit of currency within the compartment associated therewith, a latch bar, means carried by said latch bar and cooperative means carried by each of the indicator slides for latching the moved indicator in said indicating position upon the lowering of said hold-down finger and for releasing any other indicator slide which may be latched in said first indicating position, a second latch bar, means carried by said second latch bar for cooperation with the means carried by said indicator slides for latching said other indicator slide in a second indicating position and for releasing any other indicator slide which may be latched in second indicating position.

3. In combination, a cash register having a cash drawer, said drawer being divided into a plurality of currency receiving compartments and having a hold-down finger disposed in each of said compartments, an indicator slide associated with each of said hold-down fingers adapted to be moved from an initial to an indicating position upon the raising of a hold-down finger to thereby indicate the deposit of currency within the compartment associated therewith, a latch bar, means carried by said latch bar and cooperative means carried by each of the indicator slides for latching the moved indicator in said indicating position upon the lowering of said hold-down finger and for simultaneously releasing any other indicator slide which may be latched in said first indicating position, a second latch bar, means carried by said second latch bar for cooperation with the means carried by said indicator slides for latching said other indicator slide in a second indicating position and for releasing any other indicator slide latched in said second indicating position and thereby causing it to return to said initial position.

4. In combination, a cash register having a cash drawer, said drawer being divided into a plurality of currency receiving compartments and having a hold-down finger disposed in each of said compartments, an indicator slide associated with each of said hold-down fingers adapted to be moved from an initial to'a, first indicating position. upon the lifting of the hold-down finger in order to indicate the eposit of currency within the compartment associated therewith, a latch bar, means carried by said latch bar and cooperative means carried by said indicator slides for latching said indicator in said indicating position upon the lowerng of said hold-down finger and for simultaneously releasing any other indicator slide which may be held latched in said first indicating position, a second latch bar, means carried by said second latch bar for cooperation with the means carried by said indicator slides for concurrently latching said other indicator slide in a second indicating position, and for simultaneously releasing any other indicating slide which may be held latched in said second indicating position, a repeat release slide associated with each of said indicator slides and adapted to be moved by the lifting of the hold-down finger, a repeat release bar connected to said second latch bar for simultaneous movement therewith, means carried by said repeat release slides and cooperative means carried by said release bar whereby said other indicator slide is released from its latched position upon the second consecutive movement of the same hold-down finger.

5. In combination with a cash register drawer, said drawer being divided into a plurality of currency receiving compartments, a pivotally mounted hold-down finger disposed in each of said compartments, an indicator slide associated with each of said compartments adapted to be moved toward and away from said hold-down finger, means carried by said hold-down finger adapted to bear against said indicator slides for imparting movement thereto whereby each of said indicator slides are adapted to be moved from an initial to an extreme position upon its associated hold-down finger being raised, resilient means secured to each of said indicator slides for resiliently biasing each of said indicator slides toward said initial position, a plurality of spaced apart latch bars extending transversely across the path of travel of said indicator slides, means carried by each of said indicator slides and cooperative means carried by each of said latch bars for latching said indicator slides with relation to said latch bars, each of said indicator slides being adapted to release any other indicator slide from latched condition on a latch bar as said indicator slide is brought in cooperative relation with respect to the latching means carried by said latch bar.

6. In combination with a cash register drawer, said drawer being divided into a plurality of currency receiving compartments, a pivotally mounted hold-down finger disposed in each of said compartments, an indicator slide associated with each of said compartments adapted to be moved toward and away from said hold-down finger, means carried by said hold-down finger adapted to bear against said indicator slides for imparting movement thereto whereby each of said indicator slides are adapted to be moved in a forward direction from an initial to an extreme position upon its associated hold-down finger being raised, resilient means secured to each of said indicator slides for resiliently biasing each of said indicator slides toward said initial position, a plurality of spaced apart latch bars extending transversely across the path of travel of said indicator slides, means carried by each of said indicator slides and cooperative means carried by each of said latch bars for latching said indicator slides with relation to said latch bars, each of said indicator slides being adapted to release any other indicator slide from latched condition on a latch bar as said indicator slide is brought in cooperative relation With respect to the latching means carried by said latch bar, a repeat release slide associated with each of said indicator slides, the means carried by said hold-down finger being adapted to bear against said repeat release slide. for imparting movement thereto whereby each of said repeat release slides are adapted to be moved in a forward direction from an initial to an extreme position upon its associated hold-down finger being raised, a release bar operatively connected to one of said latch bars, means carried by said release bar and cooperative means carried by said repeat release slide whereby said repeat release slide is adapted to actuate said release bar upon the movement of any hold-down finger.

7. In combination with a cash register drawer, said drawer being divided into a plurality of currency receiving compartments, a pivotally mounted hold-down finger disposed in each of said compartments, an indicator slide associated with each of said compartments mounted for movement toward and away from a compartmentally as sociated said hold-down finger, means carried by said hold-down finger adapted to bear against the indicator slide associated therewith for imparting movement thereto whereby said indicator slides are adapted to be moved in a forward direction from an initial position to an indicating position upon the raising of said hold-down finger, means carried by each of said indicator slides for biasing each of said indicator slides toward its initial position, a cam tooth extending from each of said indicator slides, a plurality of latch bars extending transversely across the path of travel of said indicator slides in parallel spaced relation, resilient means for biasing said latch bars to one position, projecting lugs carried by each of said latch bars in alignment with the cam tooth carried by said indicator slides whereby said latch bars are adapted to be progressively displaced by abutment with the cam tooth on an indicator slide and to be returned to their said one position upon the passage of said cam tooth, whereby any other indicator slide is released from its latched condition by means of the displacement of said latch bar.

8. In combination with a cash register drawer, said drawer being divided into a plurality of currency receiving compartments, a pivotally mounted hold-down finger disposed in each of said compartments, an indicator slide associated with each of said compartments mounted for movement in the direction of its longitudinal axis toward and away from said hold-down finger, a cam finger carried by said hold-down finger and adapted to bear against the end portion of its associated indicator slide whereby said indicator slide is adapted to be moved from an initial to an indicating position upon the raising of said holddown finger, means carried by each of said indicator slides for biasing it toward its initial position, a cam tooth provided at the upper end of each of said indicator slides, said tooth having a diagonally extending cam surface and a transversely extending lower wall surface, a plurality of slidable latch bars extending transversely across the path of travel of said indicator slides in parallel spaced relation, projecting lugs carried by each of said latch bars in alignment with the cam tooth portion of each of said indicator slides, resilient means for biasing said latch bars to one position, whereby said latch bars are adapted to be progressively displaced by the abutment of the diagonally extending surface of any of said cams against a projecting lug in the path of travel thereof, said resilient means causing the latch bar so displaced to be re turned to its position upon the passage of such cam tooth and to prevent the return movement of said slide beyond said latch bar by reason of the abutment of the transversely extending lower wall surface of said cam tooth against said projecting lug, thereby causing the echelon return movement of the latched slides toward their initial position.

9. In combination with a cash register drawer, said drawer being divided into a plurality of currency receiving compartments, a pivotally mounted hold-tlown finger disposed in each of said compartments, an indicator slide associated with each of said compartments mounted for movement in the direction of its longitudinal axis toward and away from said hold-down finger, a cam finger carried by the hold-down finger and adapted to bear against the end portion of its associated indicator slide whereby said 11 indicator slide is adapted to be moved from an initial to an indicating position upon the raising of said hold-down finger, means carried by each of said indicator slides for biasing it toward its initial position, a cam tooth provided at the upper end of each of said indicator slides, said tooth having a diagonally extending cam surface and a transversely extending lower wall surface, a plurality of slidable latch bars extending transversely across the path of travel of said indicator slides in parallel spaced relation, projecting lugs carried by each of said latch bars in alignment with the cam tooth portion of each of said indicator slides, resilient means for biasing said latch bars to one position, whereby said latch bars are adapted to be progressively displaced by the abutment of the diagonally extending surface of any of said cams against a projecting lug in the path of travel thereof, said resilient means causing the latch bar so displaced to be returned to its position upon the passage of such cam tooth and to prevent the return movement of said slide by reason of the abutment of the transversely extending lower wall surface of said cam tooth against said projecting lug, a repeat release slide associated with each of said indicator slides and mounted for concurrent movement therewith, said cam finger being adapted to bear against the end portion of its associated release slide whereby said release slide is adapted to be moved from its initial to an extreme position upon the raising of the hold-down finger, a resilently biased pivot-able pawl extending from the body of each of said release slides, a slidable release bar extending transversely across the path of travel of said release slides and operatively connected with one of said latch bars for simultaneous movement therewith, projecting lugs carried by said release bar in alignment with the lugs on said latch bars, said pawl being adapted to abut against a projecting lug on said release bar to thereby simultaneously operate one of said latch bars to release any indicator slide held latched thereon, resilient means biasing each of said release slides toward its initial position.

10. In combination, a cash register having a cash drawer, said drawer being divided into a plurality of currency receiving compartments and having a hold-down finger disposed in each of said compartments, an indicator associated with each of said hold-down fingers adapted to be moved from an initial to a first indicating position upon the raising of a hold-down finger in order to indicate the deposit of currency within the compartment associated therewith, means for maintaining the indicator so. moved, latched in said indicating position upon the lowering of said hold-down finger, said means being operative upon said movement of said indicator to release any other indicator which may be latched in said first indicating position, means to latch such released indicator in a second indicating position and for releasing any other indicator which may be latched in said second indicating position, said last named means being similarly operative upon the second consecutive movement of the same hold-down finger for releasing said other indicator from being latched in said second indicating position without releasing said first mentioned indicator from its first indicating position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATnNTS 1,337,441 Clement Apr. 20, 1920 1,746,715 Price Feb. 11, 1930 2,629,863 Stern et al. Feb. 24, 1953 

